8 Api Success Stories [2024]
API is the acronym for “application programming interface” and is a software intermediary connecting applications.
More and more companies are adopting a digital business strategy to streamline their operations and provide better customer service.
Many benefits come with using an API, and we’ve compiled a list of the best API businesses today.
In this list, you'll find real-world API success stories and very profitable examples of starting a API that makes money.
1. Fomo ($1.08M/year)
Ryan Kulp, a marketer and self-taught developer, acquired a social proof tool called Notify in 2016 and rebranded it as Fomo. Through strategic product-led growth, integrations, and a focus on social proof, Fomo scaled its business by 600% and achieved over $1 million in annual revenue.
How much money it makes: $1.08M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 5
Fomo, a social proof tool for eCommerce stores, scaled its original business by 600% and now generates >$1m in annual revenue through product-led growth via integrations and an extensive case study library.
2. Bannerbear ($600K/year)
Jon worked as a designer and programmer for over two decades. In his role as a designer, he focused on developing various products and banners for marketing teams. The idea for Bannerbear stemmed from his desire to streamline the time-consuming design process.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
Bannerbear is an API tool revolutionizing marketing automation, founded by Jon Yongfook Cockle, generating an impressive $600K/year and offering pricing plans from $49 to $299, with a growth strategy focusing on community engagement and customer recommendations.
3. Spurwing ($600K/year)
Ilya Nevolin, Co-founder and Partner of Spurwing, came up with the idea for their business when he realized that developing custom scheduling solutions from scratch was a complex and time-consuming process for startups and SMEs. Spurwing provides a scheduling API that simplifies the development process and saves businesses time and money. Since their launch in February 2020, Spurwing has powered millions of appointment bookings for thousands of companies and is poised for a bright future in the scheduling solutions market.
How much money it makes: $600K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100K
How many people on the team: 3
Spurwing, a scheduling API start-up, developed a cost-effective solution to help developers and managers avoid the complex process of building custom scheduling solutions from scratch, resulting in powering millions of appointment bookings for thousands of companies.
4. Geocode.xyz ($360K/year)
Ervin Ruci, a CS and Math expert, started geocode.xyz in 2016 as a global geoparsing and geocoding API. After seeing a lack of such APIs while in graduate school, Ervin built the first geocode API for Canada in 2004 and eventually expanded it to include the US. The success and demand for the API led to the creation of geocode.xyz, which now has thousands of daily users, over a hundred millions in monthly API calls, and generates revenues of over $15k per month.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10
How many people on the team: 2
Geocode.xyz, a geolocation API, has grown from thousands of daily users to over a hundred million in monthly API calls to revenues of over $15k per month, showing over 1,000% growth in the past year while providing a geocoding API for the world.
5. Scrapingdog ($264K/year)
Manthan Koolwal, founder of Scrapingdog, was inspired by the productivity and entrepreneurship culture in his hometown of Gujarat, India. After completing his B.tech degree, he learned to code and discovered the potential of web scraping. He launched Scrapingdog as an MVP, focusing on SEO and writing quality blog posts to attract customers. Since then, Scrapingdog has grown to generate $22k per month, with Manthan emphasizing the importance of SEO in growing a business.
How much money it makes: $264K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
How many people on the team: 6
Scrapingdog, a web scraping API founded in India by Manthan Koolwal, is making $22k per month and has increased its paid customer base by 15-18% every month, focusing on SEO and quality backlinks to attract customers and achieve a 99% success rate in web scraping.
6. Email Engine App ($120K/year)
Andris conceived the EmailEngine idea from his experience at a CRM startup a decade ago. Despite advancements, he noticed the persistent challenge of integrating services with customer mailboxes.
Leveraging his extensive experience in open-source email projects, Andris decided to address this issue independently by founding his own company.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
Learn how an engineer turned a common developer frustration into a self-hosted email service with a seamless REST API, generating $120K/year and converting open-source users into subscription-paying customers at €895 annually.
7. Treblle ($60K/year)
Vedran, a developer with years of experience, came up with the idea for Treblle while running a development agency. Frustrated with the time-consuming tasks of providing integration support and writing API documentation, Vedran saw a need for a tool that would streamline these processes. After months of development and testing, Treblle was born and quickly gained traction among clients and developers worldwide. With a seed investment of $1.4 million and over 200 customers, Treblle is poised for future growth and success.
How much money it makes: $60K/year
How many people on the team: 2
Treblle is an API management tool that provides real-time API monitoring; with 200 clients to date and a Seed investment round that raised $1.4 million, Treblle is providing developers everywhere with a solution to API discrepancies.
8. Tinq.ai ($43.2K/year)
Boulama, the founder of Tinq.ai, came up with the idea for his business while working with his software development company during the pandemic. He noticed the increasing need for businesses to automate processes and saw an opportunity to create an intuitive NLP toolkit. After building a prototype and receiving positive feedback from his clients, he validated the idea and launched Tinq.ai. The platform has since gained traction and achieved $3.5k in revenue with 34 paying customers.
How much money it makes: $43.2K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Tinq.ai founder Boulama created a ready-to-use NLP toolkit with products including rewriter, sentiment analysis, entity recognition, and classifier, which recently passed the $3.5k revenue mark with 34 paying customers as of January 27, 2022, without spending a dollar on advertising, instead focusing on regular customer engagement.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
